Light of Christ School Division is planning for a basically status-quo budget for the 2019-20 school year in light of financial challenges. (file photo/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Angela Brown

Eye on education

Light of Christ planning mainly status quo budget

Apr 30, 2019 | 12:00 PM

Light of Christ Catholic School Division, which is currently planning its 2019-20 school year budget, says it will be a tight year ahead financially.

“In terms of budget we are pretty much flat,” said Director of Education Cory Rideout, adding the division has about the same funding to use as it did for the current year for 2018-19.

The division received about $20,000 more from the province for the new school year, but Rideout says that is not much when looking at a roughly $19 million budget overall to cover the entire division’s costs.

“We certainly have to be very diligent with regards to our budget planning, and staffing,” he said. “The costs have gone up.”

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Increased expenses such as fuel, and the cost to heat the buildings all take a toll on the budget.

Rideout said the cost of living increase has a big impact, as well as labour costs.

The division’s teachers will receive a one per cent salary increase on the last day of their current contract, so that will affect the division’s budget for the new school year also.

“Even though we have a flat budget, all the costs are going up for sure,” Rideout said.

The division board will review the budget in May and expects to approve it at its June meeting, before it goes to the province for final approval.

“It will always be challenging but I’m sure we’ll make it work,” Rideout said.

The division will look at adjusting some cost factors such as instruction to meet its needs on such a tight budget.

“Budgeting is becoming more of an art than a science,” Rideout added.

Enrolment numbers are projected to be about the same as the current school year, around 2,040 full-time equivalency students in total across the division. Rideout said for the last three years enrolment numbers have been basically status quo.

There are no major capital projects planned ahead, based on the limited funding available.

“It is what it is,” Rideout said on the division budget overall. “We were expecting the budget to be tight, just like every year.”

While the funding increase from the province isn’t much, he said it is better than having no increase at all, however, or worse a decrease.

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angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW